Police Accused Of Excessive Force In Small Crime

STURGIS, Mich. (AP) – The case seemed simple: Solve the misdemeanor theft of a $14.99 phone charger. Three years later, it could be costly to the city of Sturgis.

A federal appeals court said Friday that a jury should decide if officers used excessive force against a young man suspected of shoplifting and his mother when they entered a home without a warrant.

“Shoplifting of this sort offers no reason by itself for banging a suspect’s head against a wall,” said a three-judge panel at the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

The court said the officers aren’t immune to a lawsuit, affirming a decision by U.S. District Judge Gordon Quist in Grand Rapids. The ruling means the case likely will go to trial or be settled.

In 2010, a Walgreens store in Sturgis, 50 miles south of Kalamazoo, reported the theft of a phone charger. The package was found in the store, but the part of the charger that attaches to the phone was cut off. Charles Smith, then 20, was confronted by a store manager but declined to stay and walked home.

Two officers, Mark Stoneburner and Damon Knapp, arrived at Smith’s home. Stoneburner entered the home and pulled Smith outside to a deck. Smith alleges that his head was pressed against a wall as the officers arrested him and bent his body over a railing.